Does anyone think I should take Calculus II on a Pass/ No Pass basis. Would it look good if I get a Pass, or would the schools just equate it to a C?
@SeaStar11201 You’re applying now, right?
First of all, as I mentioned earlier, taking Calc II in the Spring is essentially pointless, as you applied for Fall 2016 admission (right?), and they will not take your Spring grades into account whatsoever. Spring grades come out approx. a month or so after admission decisions come out.
It won’t look better at all to get a P. If you’re shooting for a P in Calc II, there’s not much of a point in taking it.
However, if you took it for a letter grade and wrote in the additional comments explaining that getting a C in Calc I was not up to your usual standards, and you plan to take Calc II for a letter grade to redeem yourself personally, then that MIGHT reflect well upon you. It could show that you are able to learn from your mistakes, that you want to step outside of your comfort zone, that you want to challenge yourself.
I suppose you could omit the part about the letter grade and just take it P/NP. I don’t think they have any problem with taking P/NP grades in the Spring. It would sort of reflect negatively upon you for grad schools, though, but it’s not the biggest deal in the world. I wouldn’t P/NP it, but that’s my opinion.
If you would like to take the class, then do it for your own benefit - there is a strong possibility that taking Calc II will not increase your chances in the slightest. Furthermore, If you get less than a B in Calc II (or a NP), any admission letters may be rescinded, which you definitely want to avoid.
You probably won’t gain much by taking it, and it could possibly jeopardize your admissions.
They will ignore your C grade unless you make a big deal about it.
Stop worrying about what “looks good.”
To put it simply:
If you take the class and do well, they won’t care,
If you take the class and get blow a C, you could get a possible acceptance rescinded.
You have nothing to gain and potentially everything to lose. All for a class you don’t need to do, and a class you don’t need to worry or stress about.
If you want to take it because you’re genuinely interested in the subject, then by all means take it, but clearly that’s the not the case when you’re worrying about “looking good.”
Do NOT take Calc 2 without a solid grounding in Calc 1.
Can anyone help answer a question I have? IF I get a 3.87 GPA by the time I graduate from my community college, does my GPA reset to 0.0 when I get into a UC school? How about a private school? So then I would have two GPAs, one from whichever four year institution I transfer to and one from the community college? And when I apply for graduate school (I’m hoping to get into law school someday) they would average out they two GPAs and take that GPA into consideration. Can anyone please tell me if this is correct or not? From what I’ve heard it is, but I just want to confirm. Thank you guys.
When you get to a UC (or a private school, like USC), you start with a fresh GPA.
Not sure how it works with graduate school but you’ll obviously report all your grades. I would assume they’d put the most weight on your actual UC GPA, not community college. I don’t know for sure though.
I think it’s something you shouldn’t really be worrying about now as it’s not only far away but entirely out of your hands. Just focus on getting the best grades you can now, successfully transferring, and doing well wherever you transfer to.
You are correct. Your GPA will reset to 0.00 upon transferring. But your community college courses will still factor into grad school. They will, as you mentioned, be “averaged out” when under consideration.
You mentioned law school. So to be specific in your case, the LSAC would average out your two GPAs. However, they will disregard any remedial coursework (though this [remedial coursework] must be apparent on your transcript).
@Cheolf is Pre-Calculus considered remedial coursework. Because I don’t think it’s available to take at colleges. I would assume that most people would have taken it prior to starting college, when they were in high school. I took it before taking Calculus I.
Look on Assist and see if it is transferable. If it’s transferable, it’s not remedial.
@SeaStar11201 I don’t have a clear answer for you on that front. From the LSAC website:
"Grades Excluded From Conversion
…
Those given for remedial courses only if the transcript clearly indicates they are remedial."
Source: http://www.lsac.org/aboutlsac/policies/transcript-summarization
I’m not sure if your transcript “clearly indicates” that precalculus is remedial.
Edit: I would also like to second the sentiment conveyed by @briank82
It’s best to focus on what is directly controllable. What is on your transcript will remain there. What you can do to improve your future chances for grad school is strive for great grades. What the LSAC considers and discards is out of your hands.
Though I do understand your curiosity on the matter. I too would like to know the answer.
@Cheolf Thanks for the help. I looked into PreCalculus at my community college, and it says it’s CSU transferrable and limited UC transferrable. I’m not exactly sure what that means that it’s limited, but it’s ok. I also looked to see if other colleges offer PreCalculus for their students to take. And I saw that NYU and USC does, and they are two of the schools I applied to.
Did you look on assist? Go to assist.org … put the CCC you go to … put the UC you want to go to … click UC transferable courses … choose the department and look.
It’s that simple.
Out of state and USC are different, but for UC and CSUs, this would give you your answer in 45 seconds.